Product Manager

Robots & Pencils is an applied AI engineering firm that builds AI co-workers and enterprise solutions for clients across multiple industries. The Product Manager will own product delivery for complex Higher Education engagements, managing backlogs, translating business needs into requirements, facilitating agile execution, and partnering with clients, engineers, and designers to deliver high-quality outcomes.

Responsibilities:

• Own and manage the product backlog, ensuring work is clearly defined, prioritized, and aligned to business outcomes
• Translate business needs and stakeholder requests into structured requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria
• Partner with engineering and design to ensure requirements are well understood and delivered with quality
• Facilitate sprint planning, backlog refinement, and day-to-day delivery execution to keep the team on track
• Identify and manage dependencies, risks, and scope changes throughout the delivery lifecycle
• Leverage data, user feedback, and team insights to continuously improve the product
• Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude to accelerate documentation, research, and analysis
• Build and maintain strong relationships with client stakeholders, serving as a trusted partner in delivery
• Communicate progress, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Facilitate working sessions, requirement discussions, and decision-making forums with clients and delivery teams
• Own the outcome of the work, not just the tickets — care about what shipped well, not just what got built
• Frame requests in terms of user and business outcomes, not just features
• Contribute to a positive, high-performing team environment through reliability, clarity, and good judgment

Requirements:

• 3+ years of experience in product management or product ownership
• Experience in the Higher Education space including Colleague ERP, SIS, and LMS platforms
• Strong understanding of agile delivery practices and product ownership responsibilities
• Experience writing requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria for cross-functional delivery teams
• Experience working directly with clients or external stakeholders
• Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
• Analytical approach to decision-making using data and user insight
• Proficiency with product and delivery tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Miro)
• Demonstrable usage of AI tools to accelerate documentation, research, and analysis (e.g., Claude)
• Experience in a consulting or agency environment is a plus
• Curiosity about prototyping with AI tools (e.g., Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) — willingness to try AI to validate product ideas, even if you haven't done it formally yet
• Experience with process-mapping or documentation tools
• Working familiarity with GenAI fundamentals (LLMs, prompt engineering) — enough to follow technical conversations and ask good questions
• Exposure to AI-powered products as a user, contributor, or observer, and the curiosity to learn how they're built
• Vertical depth in one or more of Consumer Products and Retail, Education, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, or Manufacturing